Method of attaching plate members to each other

ABSTRACT

A method of attaching plate members to each other is disclosed wherein a solid mass of adhesive material extends from one of the plate members to be adhesively attached to the other plate member through the application of heat and pressure. One or both of the plate members may be provided with an aperture through which the adhesive material can be caused to flow to form a rivet-like head on the rear face of each aperture panel and provide a mechanical connection between the panel members.

United States Patent 1191 11] 3,821,052 Tanzer June 28, 1974 [54] METHOD OF ATTACHING PLATE 2,207,240 7/1940 c6mw611...... 156/293 MEMBERS o EACH OTHER 2,679,468 5/1954 Pitman 1 161/1 14 3,214,212 10/1965 Horton 161/115 n entor: John Tanzer, 411 N. 7th St, St 3,323,966 6/1967 Schimmel 156/306 Louis, Mo. 63101 Primary Examiner-Douglas J. Drummond [22] Filed 1971 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Michael Kovac [21] Appl. No.: 186,278

[57] ABSTRACT [52 us. c1 156/250, 156/291, 156/293, A method of ettaehing plate members to each other is 15 /295 1 1 1 15 disclosed wherein a solid mass of adhesive material ex- [51 1111. c1 B321) 31/00, 13326 3/10 tends from one of the plate members to he adhesively 58 Field Of Search 156/291, 295, 293, 250, attached to the other plate member through the pp 156/306; 1 1/1 12 113 114 115 cation of heat and pressure. One: or both of the plate members may be provided with an aperture through 5 References Cited which the adhesive material can be caused to flow to UNITED STATES PATENTS form a rivet-like head on the rear face of each aper- 839 258 12/1906 Benecke 16m 14 ture panel and provide a mechanical connection be- 2,071:921 2/1937 Dickson.::::::::: I: 161/114 tween the panel members 2,167,998 8/1939 Reid 161/114 1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures RATEHTEUJURZB 1914 3821.052

FIGI

HNVENTOR JOHN TAN'ZER ATTORNEY SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION There are many instances in homes, offices and factories where it is desired to adhesively attach two opposing surfaces to each other. In a house environment, for example, a variety of bathroom and kitchen hooks, racks and the like are attached to a wall surface by the use of a water-activated adhesive which is deposited on rear surface areas of hooks, racks, and the like. In the office, there has been a need for attaching a thick booklet or pamphlet without the use of plastic spiral fasteners and the like which further increases the thickness of the booklet and makes it difficult to file, mail to customers, etc. In the factory, there are numerous instances where it is desired to adhesively fasten a strip of material or the like to a supporting surface.

At the present time, however, there has been no easily adaptable technique which could be usefully applied in the myriad of adhesive fastener applications to positively and securely attach opposing surfaces of plate members and the like to each other. In some cases, adhesives have been applied by brushing on a liquid or paste wax between opposing surfaces and then applying pressure. In other cases, a water activated adhesive is already attached to a device which is to be mounted on a supporting surface. In none of the known instances is the adhesive material capable of positively securing the opposing surfaces to each other while also permitting the adhesive to form a mechanical connection with one or both of the members to be attached to each other.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful technique for adhesively and/or mechanically attaching opposing surfaces, such as found in plate members and the like, to each other.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for attaching plate members to each other where an adhesive material is laterally and uniformly distributed between opposing surfaces of the plate members by the application of heat and pressure.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method which is capable of forming a mechanical connection between one or both of the members to be attached to each other by the formation of a rivet-like head on the rear face of one or both of the members.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are attained by the procedural steps of providing a first plate member having a solid mass of adhesive material attached thereto and extending from one face thereof positioning the first plate member relative to a second plate member with the solid mass of adhesive material positioned therebetween, heating the first plate member to cause a solid mass of adhesive material to be readily flowable, applying pressure to at least one of the first and second plate members to bring the plate members toward each other and cause the solid mass of adhesive material to be laterally and uniformly distributed in adhesive relationship between the members. and curing the thus distributed adhesive material for adhesively attaching the plate members to each other. Where desired, one or both of the plate members may be provided with an aperture into which 2 the adhesive material is caused to flow to form a rivetlike head on the rear face of each apertured panel to form a mechanical connection therebetween.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a pair of plate members, one of the plate members having a solid mass of adhesive material extending from one face thereof, prior to the attachment of the plate members to each other;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the plate members illustrated in FIG. I with the adhesive material being laterally and uniformly distributed in adhesive relationship between the members and with a rivetlike head formed on the rear face of one of the members;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of another form of the present invention depicting a pair of plate members with the adhesive material disposed between the members being attached through a rivet-like head to the rear face of one of the members;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the plate members illustrated in FIG. 3 with the adhesive material being formed, through the application of heat and pressure, to the shape that is illustrated, thereby forming both an adhesive and mechanical connection between the plate members;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of still another form of the present invention where a flattened tubelike member has the adhesive material extending therefrom above a second plate member prior to the attachment of the two members to each other; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing how the members illustrated in FIG. 5 are attached both adhesively and mechanically to the plate members through the use of heat andpressure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIGS. 1-2 of the drawing, it will be seen that the method of the present invention is capable of attaching the opposed plate members 1.0, 12 to each other by the use of adhesive material 14 which, upon the application ofheat and pressure, positively secures the plate members l0, 12 to each other as is il- Iustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawing. The plate members illustrated in the drawing are intended to represent any type of device which has a surface or face to which an adhesive material can be adhesively attached thereto. The adhesive material is of the type which is heat activated into a ilowable and tacky state. Many types of adhesive compounds may be formulated for this purpose but several fastening applications with which the present invention has been used have found that hot melt glue adhesives and some of the epoxy adhesives are adaptable to the method of the present invention.

In securing the plate members l0, 12 to each other, the adhesive material 14 is first deposited on the inner face Of the plate member 12, for example. This is preferably accomplished as a preliminary step in order to facilitate the application of heat and pressure through the panel member 12. Thus, the adhesive material forms a solid mass which is deposited on the inner face of the plate member. The next step in the process is positioning the plate member with the solid mass of adhesive material 14 in proximity to the second plate member, such as the plate number 10. Preferably, when this is done, the solid mass of adhesive material 14 contacts the inner face of the plate member 10. Next, heat is applied to the plate member to cause the solid mass of adhesive material to become readily flowable and tacky. Thus, when pressure is applied through one or both of the plate members, the heated solid mass of adhesive material is caused to be laterally and uniformly distributed in adhesive relationship between the members as is illustrated at 16 in FIG. 2 of the drawings.

Where it is desired to form a mechanical connection between plate members l0, 12, the plate member can be provided with an aperture 18 such that when the heated mass of adhesive material 14 is compressed between the plate members 10, 12, some of the adhesive material can flow in and through the aperture 18 to form a rivet-like head on the rear face of the plate member 10. The rivet-like head 20 is formed by causing a suitable amount of adhesive material 14 to flow up through the aperture 18 and onto the rear face of the plate member 10 as is illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawings.

When the thus distributed adhesive material 14 is allowed to cure, the plate members l0, 12 will be adhesively secured through the inner faces thereofto the adhesive material as at 16 while also being both adhesively and mechanically connected to each other through the rivet-like head 20 that is formed. A positive and secure adhesive connection is thereby formed.

In certain instances, it may be desirable to attach the adhesive material by both an adhesive and mechanical connection to one of the plate members. This is illustrated in FIGS. 3-4 of the drawings which represent a modified form of the present invention where similar parts are identified by like numerals with the suffix a. There, it will be seen that the plate member 10a has the adhesive material 14a attached thereto by the use of a rivet-like head 20a. This is accomplished prior to the attachment of the plate members 10a, 12a to each other as is depicted in FIG. 4 of the drawing.

Plate member 12a may be provided, if desired, with an aperture 22, similar to the aperture 18a in plate member 10a, so that upon the application of heat and pressure through the plate members, the adhesive material 140 can be caused to extend through the aperture 22 of the plate member 120 to form a rivetlike head 20a on the rear face of the plate member 12a, in addition to the adhesive section 16a between the plate members 10a, 12a. When the adhesive material 14a is distributed in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawing and allowed to cure, the fastening arrangement is such that it is relatively difficult to separate the plate members 10a, 120 from each other. Alternately, molten adhesive material can be deposited around the periphery of aperture 22 prior to the attachment of plate members 10a, 12a so that upon the application of pressure through the plate members, a mechanical adhesive connection as illustrated in FIG. 4 results. In this instance, the process of applying heat to one of the plate members, for example, is omitted.

Another form of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 5-6 of the drawing wherein similar numerals are used to represent like parts in the previous embodiments with the suffix b being utilized to distinguish from the previous embodiments. In this embodiment, a flattened tube-like member 24 is provided with an aperture 26 through the lower or inner wall thereof. The adhesive material mass 14b is deposited in a flowable and tacky condition through the aperture 26 to form a flattened rivet-like head between the opposed inner wall surfaces 28, 30 of the flattened tube-like member 24. The thus formed tube member 24 with the mass of adhesive material 1412 extending therebelow may now be attached, through heat and pressure in accordance with the process of the present invention, to the plate member 12b. In addition to the flattened rivet-like head 20b which is formed from the adhesive material 14b, an adhesive section 1612 is formed between the flattened tube-like member 24 and the plate member 12b as in the previous embodiments to positively secure these parts to one another.

From the foregoing, it will now be appreciated that the method of the present invention enables an adhesive and/or mechanical connection to be made between two or more plate members or the like. The size and shape of the plate members as well as the amount of the adhesive material that is to be utilized can be varied to suit the particular desired. Further, it will be apparent that one or more apertures may be provided in the plate members at desired locations. The method of the present invention is, therefore, not to be limited by various mechanical variations which are within the scope of those ordinarily skilled in the art and which do not change the procedural format set forth in the attended claim.

I claim:

1. The method of attaching first and second members to each other wherein at least one of said members comprises a flattened tube-like member having an aperture in one flattened wall thereof, comprising the steps of: providing a first member with a solid mass of adhesive material attached thereto and extending from one face thereof, positioning said first member relative to the flattened tube-like member with the solid mass of adhesive material positioned between said members and in alignment with the aperture provided in said flattened tube-like member, heating the solid mass of adhesive material to cause it to be readily flowable, laterally and uniformly distributing the readily flowable mass of adhesive material into adhesive relationship between said members and simultaneously depositing part of the readily flowable mass of adhesive material into and beyond the aperture of the flattened tube-like member to form a rivet-like head between opposed inner wall surfaces of the flattened tube-like member by applying pressure to at least one of said members, said adhesive material being adhesively attached also to the surrounding wall surfaces of the aperture in the flattened tube-like member, and curing the thus distributed adhesive material for adhesively attaching said members to each other.

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1. The method of attaching first and second members to each other wherein at least one of said members comprises a flattened tube-like member having an aperture in one flattened wall thereof, comprising the steps of: providing a first member with a solid mass of adhesive material attached thereto and extending from one face thereof, positioning said first member relative to the flattened tube-like member with the solid mass of adhesive material positioned between said members and in alignment with the aperture provided in said flattened tube-like member, heating the solid mass of adhesive material to cause it to be readily flowable, laterally and uniformly distributing the readily flowable mass of adhesive material into adhesive relationship between said members and simultaneously depositing part of the readily flowable mass of adhesive material into and beyond the aperture of the flattened tube-like member to form a rivet-like head between opposed inner wall surfaces of the flattened tubelike member by applying pressure to at least one of said members, said adhesive material being adhesively attached also to the surrounding wall surfaces of the aperture in the flattened tubelike member, and curing the thus distributed adhesive material for adhesively attaching said members to each other. 